Casanova

For me , it was a very nice surprise. First for discover Diego Luna as a real good Casanova, after many performances and explorations of this role by other actors. Second for inspired Madame Pompadour by Bojana Novakovich. Not the last, for charming atmosphere and wise embroidery of pieces of XVIII century. And for precise analysis of cruelty / barbary of the last part. Short, a lovely surprise. Maybe more interesting as episode pilot than a serie.

This pilot, directed by the brilliant Jean-Pierre Jeunet, gives us a Casanova engaged as a spy ordered to take down Madame Pompadour. It's an interesting premise, well performed and lushly designed.

The pilot really tries to capture the Paris of the time. There are alchemical hucksters, torturous capital punishment, intrigue, and opera. There are also lots and lots of naked ladies.

I don't actually know where this pilot was broadcast - I just found it online - but I hope it's still being shopped, because I would really like to see how it plays out.

When will writers, producers and directors learn that no men in the 18'th century had facial hair?! No matter how long you search, you will never find a painting from that century, depicting a man with a beard. It was considered filthy.

This show really threw me for a loop. At first, I thought it was going to be about debaucheries committed by Casanova as he lived his life in Paris. They show you an overwhelming amount of beautiful women with corsets that really…uh…accentuate their beauty. As the show goes on though, they really capture the personality of Casanova. You know from the very beginning that he was a sexual deviant. And then suddenly, everything takes a turn when they delved deeper into his life about Alchemy, politics, and even espionage. What really astounded me about this show was the amount of details put into the costumes and the scenery. It was absolutely AMAZING to see the amount of thought put into the show and you can actually feel the atmosphere and culture. Everything from clothing designs to walking along the street really captured the essence of France. What this show did lack, however, was suspense and pacing. There were no moments in show where I was on the edge of my seat; Casanova was never really in any danger. Something I do agree with other reviewers is that the story develops at a snail's pace. I personally didn't mind it, but I can understand how this show might be perceived as dull by others. I am certain that it will get much better further on. This first episode was more to show you the beginnings of Casanova and setting the groundwork for much better things later on. Can't wait to see more episodes, this show definitely has a lot of potential!

This pilot had extremely good audience reaction. A good deal of positive critics reaction too. Some bad reactions from insider Hollywood critics. Now we find out from interviews with Actress Helena Bonham Carter that Weinstein had a vendetta against the director of Casanova, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and was using his influence to attempt to damage Jeunet's work. It looks like some of the critics who panned Casanova are the very same who were protective of Weinstein right up until the allegations became too widespread to deny. It also looks like Amazon may have possibly caved to pressure from Wienstein who was producing projects for Amazon. So if you are wondering why this stunningly good production never made it beyond the pilot, keep in mind the most powerful and abusive power broker in Hollywood had a specific vendetta against its director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Perhaps Jeunet blocked Harvey's casting couch. Even worse, perhaps Amazon enabled Weinstein's vendetta

For more info, which just came out, just hit google news for: Weinstein and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Vanity Fair has an October 2018 piece on this as does The Guardian

What a shame that the corrupt Hollyuwood